Officially Outnumbered

How time flies! It's been a whirlwind since Kara has been born... mostly because I've been trying to get projects done while I've still had help around... but alas, the help is gone (besides Eric who really has been wonderful). Ken and Nancy left early Saturday morning, but during the course of their stay they helped out a ton with the kids which gave me a break and allowed me to get some great organizing and catching up done. Ken did a lot of my "projects" including yard work (uncovering a 10'x20' piece of yard that was hidden under bushes), mowing the lawn, fixing our lawn mower (the pull string came untied and I'm certain it was probably working its way out during all the times we've moved previously, but which happened to come undone while he was using it), putting up a shelf and numerous pictures, cooking several delicious meals and helping me hang up my thermal curtain panels. Nancy was great with the kids and would take them swimming and to the playground while I got stuff done around the house. They also took the kids to the beach one day, which the kids really loved. So with tomorrow (my first day on my own and my first day officially outnumbered) right around the corner I feel like a kid getting ready to start school -- I'm excited to get back into a routine and try out this new phase of life, but am not sure how it will go. Fortunately, several ward members have volunteered to bring meals over this week, so that will really be nice in the transition.
I love Sunday afternoons. Eric, Kara and Ethan take naps and Elia and I get to do this:

Have a great week everyone!

A Rose By Any Other Name...

We've read a children's book by Kevin Henkes many times. In the book a little mouse is named Chrysanthemum by her parents. Here is an excerpt from the book:
"'Her name must be everything she is,' said her mother.
'Her name must be absolutely perfect,' said her father.
And it was."

After much deliberation, we've finally chosen a perfect name for our perfect little girl:

Kara Lisette

Kara means: pure; sweet melodie; dear one

and

Lisette means: God's promise; devoted to God

We're so excited to have officially chosen a name (though we've called her "baby" for so long that I still have a tendency to call her "baby"... maybe that will be her nickname :))

As of right now (12:50 p.m. Monday) she is five days old, but it seems like she's been a part of our family forever.

She sleeps beautifully during the day and pretty good at night... that is, after I moved her to her own room. I lasted exactly two nights at home with her in the pack-n-play beside our bed. I would feed her then lay her down. She'd be quiet for about five minutes then start squeaking, then start fussing. Now that she's in her own bedroom I can feed her in there without disturbing Eric (man our Love Sac (a huge beanbag) is so comfortable in the middle of the night), lay her down and she goes right back to sleep. Last night, which was her first all-nighter in her own bed she woke up twice to eat... which is expected.

Yesterday I took some pictures of her, though I had a lot of help from the kids, so our "session" didn't last very long. Here's my favorite:

Some have commented that she's looking more like Elia... I really can't tell, but Elia sure loves her. Eric commented yesterday that Elia has held Kara more than he has! Getting the three of them together was tricky. They aren't the greatest pictures, (there is something about jostling a baby that wakes her out of her quiet slumber) but at least in these two pics Ethan isn't leaning away from Kara!Ethan has been very interesting. He's sort of indifferent about her, though he likes watching her, when you ask him if he wants to kiss or hold her he says, "no". I'm trying really hard to give both he and Elia extra attention so we can avoid any feelings of being left out.
I gave Kara a bath on Saturday and love how curly her hair gets when it's wet, so I thought I would document it for the future:

I clicked right at the right moment to get this sweet little smile during a dream. I sure wish I could read her dreams. Some people hypothesize that babies dream about nursing, but I like to think that they still have a glimpse (or sense) of what heaven was like and maybe they dream about heaven. I sure think about what heaven is like when I look at her.

Ken and Nancy leave on Saturday night. I have to say I'm sort of dreading doing this by myself and I know other people have it much worse and don't get any help, but it sure is nice to have extra hands. Ken trimmed our bushes today and as they were leaving with Elia to visit some people they know here (while Ethan, Kara and I nap), Nancy said, "I'm looking forward to folding laundry when I get back." It's times like these that I sure miss being near family.

I feel like at the end of this week I'll have to really get back to the real world! AAAAHHHH! Sunday, while the others were at church, I couldn't sleep and basically made a plan and goals for the next little while... things I wanted to do to improve myself, things to make our family and home function better, and ideas on how to manage my time and life better. Eric was a little speechless when he saw the "plan", but I told him not to worry... I'm better at planning than implementing:). That is really quite true, but if I can even do half of what's on my list I think things will be more smooth.

It's A...

Girl!!!
Baby Girl Petty is Finally Here! No, we still haven't decided on a name, but we know what gender it is, so that's a start. Our top five girl names now (in alphabetical order) are: Ava/Eva (We like the name, but if we spell it Eva people will say it wrong and we'll sort of be stuck with E's), Hannah, Kara, Lisette and Zoe/Zoey. No guarantees that we'll listen, but feel free to cast your vote (see poll to the right). This is the first time Eric and I have been at an impass with names. Usually we are in-sync, but not this time. We have until Monday to decide.
Labor and delivery went well. Here's about how it went:
1:30 Couldn't sleep because of contractions
2:15 Woke Eric up to time contractions, wrote blog post, took showers
3:00 Went to hospital
6:00 Got epidural (which slowed contractions down)
9:00 Doctor broke water
12:15 Felt like the baby was going to come, checked with nurses who confirmed that I was ready.
12:20 Nurses called doctor, Eric called his mom to bring Elia.
12:30 Doctor came
12:35 Elia came running in from the parking lot
12:40 Pushed 2.5 times
12:45 Baby came
We decided earlier in the day that Elia (who had requested to watch) could come watch. She sat right on the bed next to my shoulder and held my hand (we told her that was her job). She saw the baby after it came out and saw the umbilical cord get cut and then she and Eric watched the nurse clean off the baby while I got two stitches then cleaned up. She really was just so interested and curious in the baby, asking so many questions. I am really glad we included her.

Ethan likes to be near the baby, especially if Elia is, but is generally less interested and more of a roamer in the hospital room. Nancy told me that on the way out of the hospital the first time Ethan said, "I don't want this baby. Let's put this white baby back. I want a brown baby." (It's a good thing Ethan didn't get his wish.)

It's been so nice to have Nana and Grandpa around. Eric's been able to stay with me the whole time in the hospital, the kids have come to visit several times, but have been able to leave before they get too crazy and Ken made a delicious chicken enchilada dinner for our homecoming today.

I saw someone do this on their blog and liked the idea. I'm including a picture of Elia and Ethan (in no particular order) on their birth days. Can you tell which picture is Ethan and which is Elia? Who do you think the baby looks most like?

So, we're home now (out of the Garden of Eden of the hospital). Eric thinks the hospital is like that for new parents and then you have to go back into the real world when you check out. We'll tell you how the real world is with three kids. Wish us luck!

Baby, Oh, Baby!

Well, there really is nothing to do at 2 a.m. when you can't sleep because of contractions (which you are trying to figure out if they are the real thing or not) and everything is ready to go for the trip to the hospital. I guess our preparations yesterday worked! Yeah!
Yesterday we did just about everything known to man to naturally induce labor. We did the more common ones (some of which aren't mentionable on a blog) and the uncommon ones including a motorcycle ride, running up the stairs, and applying pressure to several different acupressure points (while my father-in-law laughed on).
I told Eric on Friday that I thought I would go into labor on Tuesday (yesterday)... I'm not sure if that was a hope or a feeling, but when yesterday came and went I thought... "Great! I'm going to go late!" I even scheduled another doctor's appointment for Friday.
However, yesterday I put up the pack-and-play bassinet in our room, charged all my camera batteries, packed our hospital bag (which I didn't do with Ethan until I had to take breaks from getting stuff ready because of the uncomfortableness), adjusted the straps on the car seat from one-year-old Ethan size to new baby size, taught the kids how to swaddle a baby and buckle it in the car seat (and learned from Elia in the process that it wasn't good to step on the baby), expanded our potential baby name list from 3 to 10, and pulled out some newborn diapers.
The power of suggestion! I guess baby listened.
It's now 2:30. My toenails are freshly painted (thanks to my dear husband, who, though he thought it was a little silly that I wanted nice looking toes during labor, still painted them), Eric is taking a shower, and then we'll be on our way. We'll update you all after he/she comes! (And lets hope that this really is the real thing and I don't delete this post in a couple of hours when I come home from the hospital after finding out that it wasn't the real thing)!